A police robot in Huntington Park, California failed to respond to a woman's emergency alert during a violent fight, telling her to 'step out of the way' instead of connecting her to police dispatch, forcing bystanders to call 911 directly.
In Huntington Park, California, a Knightscope K5 security robot named HP RoboCop has been patrolling Salt Lake Park since June as part of a trial program by the Huntington Park Police Department. The robot, which costs $60,000-$70,000 annually to lease, is equipped with 360-degree HD cameras, license plate readers, two-way intercom, and an emergency alert button. During a violent fight in the park's parking lot, Cogo Guebara attempted to use the robot's emergency alert button to contact police. However, the robot repeatedly told her to 'step out of the way' and failed to connect her to emergency services. Police Chief Cosme Lozano revealed that the robot's alert button is not yet connected to the police department and instead directs calls to Knightscope, the manufacturer. A bystander had to call 911 directly, and police arrived 15 minutes later after the fight had ended, with one woman requiring hospitalization for head injuries. The robot continued its patrol route while the emergency unfolded, periodically announcing messages about keeping the park clean. This incident highlights a gap between public expectations of the robot's capabilities and its actual functionality, as the police department has not posted signage explaining the robot's limitations while features are still being activated.
Domain classification, causal taxonomy, severity scores, and national security assessments were LLM-classified and may contain errors.
AI systems that fail to perform reliably or effectively under varying conditions, exposing them to errors and failures that can have significant consequences, especially in critical applications or areas that require moral reasoning.
AI system
Due to a decision or action made by an AI system
Unintentional
Due to an unexpected outcome from pursuing a goal
Post-deployment
Occurring after the AI model has been trained and deployed